What He Never Said ✔️

chapter twenty-eight • the fourth video

"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is."
- Winston Churchill

"It's okay. You can do this," I tell myself, willing my legs to move faster as I walk toward Gemma's apartment.

I reach the door and raise my hand to knock, but it sort of lingers in the air, not doing what my brain is commanding it to do. My body is completely frozen.

I'm paralyzed, just like I was the night my brother assaulted Raelyn.

I can't believe I'm about to tell Gemma my secret. The only people I've ever confided in are Winter and Zayna, but neither of them ever had a chance to meet Raelyn. Gemma knew Rae—maybe not as well as she thought she did, but better than anyone else. They were more than just best friends; they were sisters. Time drove them apart, but I saw the look of complete and utter devastation on my sister's face when she found out that Raelyn was gone. Emotion like that can't be faked.

"Just knock on the fucking door, Bowie," I whisper. Why do I always make things ten times harder than they need to be?

As if by divine intervention, the door is pulled open by someone on the other side. Gemma stands in front of me, her hair pulled back into a disheveled bun. She looks exhausted, like she hasn't slept in days.

"Bowie," she murmurs, her eyes widening in shock. I'm guessing she was not expecting to find me here.

Then again, I haven't spoken to anyone in my family in over a week.

"Hi, Gemma," I respond. "It's good to see you."

"What are you doing here?" she inquires.

"I... I wanted to see you. I said some weird stuff after we watched Raelyn's videos," I remind her, "and I... well, I figured we should talk about it."

"Funny how you mention that," she says, although neither her face nor her voice convey any humor. "I'm actually headed to a friend's house to watch the last video right now."

"You haven't seen it yet?" I ask, genuinely surprised.

She rolls her toffee-colored eyes. "God, why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"Sorry, you're just so... Gemma-like," I reply with a shrug. My sister is many things. Patient is not one of them.

"I'm going to choose to take that as a compliment." Gemma smiles and wraps her arms around my neck, squeezing me like a python suffocates its prey. "How are you, Bowie? Are you okay?"

Ha, that's a loaded question. "I... I haven't been okay for a long time," I admit, "but I'm trying to be. I'm trying to be."

"That's good." She bites her lip, clearly resisting the urge to pull another Gemma-like move and bombard me with questions. "Listen, Bowie, my friend's expecting me at eight-thirty. Would you want to meet up and talk tomorrow?"

"If it's not a huge imposition, can I tag along? I'm curious about the last video myself," I say. It's the truth. Since watching the first three, I haven't been able to stop thinking about what might be on the fourth.

"Um, sure. Let's get in the car." She guides me into the hallways and shuts the door behind her.

We drive to Gemma's friend's house. She tells me that his name is Griffin, and he works in the IT department at the Tribune. Based on the way my sister's cheeks turn crimson when she talks about him, I think I can safely assume that they're more than just friends.

We park into the nearly vacant lot behind Griffin's building. A well-muscled black man with neatly buzzed hair and a friendly smile is waiting for us on the sidewalk. He looks like he's in his late twenties, maybe early thirties.

"Hey, you," Griffin says, opening my sister's door for her. "You ready for this?"

Ah, what a gentleman. That's a good sign, at least.

"I am," he replies. "I hope you don't mind, but my, um, little brother wanted to join us. He's seen the other three videos, so... yeah."

I quickly jump out of the car. "Nice to meet you. I'm Bowie." I shake his hand with more force than I need to, making him wince slightly. "Your name's Griffin, right?"

"Uh, yeah," he answers. "Nice to meet you, too, kid."

"Don't let the boyish dimples fool you. I'm twenty-one," I inform my sister's suitor, not wanting him to be under the impression that I'm a naive teenage boy.

Fuck, now I know how Shamus feels about me.

"Let's go inside," Griffin says, leading us into the building. We take the elevator up to his studio apartment, which is nicely decorated and immaculately tidy. "Make yourselves at home, guys. Anyone want a drink?"

"Got anything to take the edge off?" Gemma asks.

"I have beer in the fridge."

"That'll do."

He glances at me. "Bowie, you want one?"

I shake my head. I need to be sober tonight.

"Just two beers, I guess," he mumbles, opening his refrigerator to take out two cans of IPA. He keeps one for himself and passes the other to Gemma.

"Thank you," she replies with a fake smile.

"So... shall we get started?" Griffin turns to Gemma, then to me, then back to Gemma, an inquisitive look in his dark eyes.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," my sister announces after chugging her beer in one gulp. I want to warn her to slow down, but it's not my place.

The three of us gather around the kitchen table, on top of which sits Griffin's laptop. Gemma inserts the flash drive into the USB port, finds the tab for the fourth and final video, and clicks the triangular play button.

I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding as Raelyn's face takes over the screen. This is it. This is the last video.

Maybe Raelyn will do me favor and reveal everything that happened with Benson. It is her "veritas," after all.

A/N: Hello, my beautiful readers! We're reaching the end of this story. I just wanted to say a huge thank you to those who have read this far. Y'all mean the literal world to me❣️❣️

Don't forget to tap that star before you leave⭐️⭐️